On Earth as It Is in Heaven – Daniel 8

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“And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand” (Daniel 8:23-25, ESV).

In the Lord’s Prayer we recite the words: “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV). Most of us who recite this prayer probably believe its supplication but don’t really think about the Old Testament theology behind our petition.

When we entreat God to accomplish His will on earth as in heaven, we are acknowledging that heaven and earth are two interconnected realms that God created and rules. And, the biblical pattern is that what happens in heaven impacts what happens on earth–and vice versa.

At a fundamental level the Bible is the story of God’s rule over those two realms through His created image-bearers. While the Bible primarily relates the story of humanity’s struggle with God, God’s created beings are both human and supernatural. The biblical story of God’s will unfolds simultaneously in the earthly and heavenly realms. But, sometimes the Bible provides us a glimpse into the corresponding events unfolding in the heavenly realm.

Daniel 8 is one such place in the Bible that reveals these parallel universes. The narrative of Daniel’s vision seems to allude to the activity of both heavenly beings and humans–the Israelites. Israel is being attacked on earth while a corresponding conflict is occurring in the unseen heavenly realm. Daniel described these earthly events using supernatural imagery because the earthly conflict reflected a corresponding heavenly conflict. So, Daniel 8 is an example of the biblical pattern of “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Chapter 8 records a second vision of Daniel that occurs two years after the vision in Chapter 7, sometime between 550 and 547 BC. While much debate surrounds the interpretation of Daniel’s other visions, this second vision attracts little disagreement among biblical scholars. Daniel has a vision that clearly describes the rise and fall of historical empires hundreds of years before all the events transpire!

The ram’s two horns in vs. 6, 7, and 20 symbolize Media and Persia. The goat represents Greece whose first king was Alexander the Great (vs. 5-8, 21-22) and the small horn is the second-century BC Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (vs. 9, 23). From the historical record we know that Antiochus profaned the worship of God in Jerusalem by setting up a holy object sacred to the Greek god Zeus in the Jerusalem temple. Beginning in 167 BC, Antiochus also ordered the end to the daily sacrifice (vs. 10-13, 24-25). Antiochus died in late 164 BC and vs. 14 and 25 likely refer to his untimely death by illness or disease.

The army of Judas Maccabeus recaptured Jerusalem and re-dedicated the temple to the Lord—the origin of the Festival of Hanukkah. So, after about 3 years where daily sacrifice in the temple had ceased, the sanctuary was restored to its rightful state (vs. 14).

For many prophecy scholars Antiochus Epiphanes is a prototype for a later Antichrist figure, and that is what has relevance for this “on earth as it is in heaven” viewpoint. In Daniel 8:10–11 the little horn (reign of Antiochus IV Ephiphanes) grows toward heaven. It throws down some of the “host” and “stars,” and exalts itself against the “Prince of the host.” Modern readers often interpret the stars simply as persecuted Jews. But, in the Old Testament stars can represent members of the heavenly host.

If this is the case, Daniel portrayed events involving earthly kingdoms against the backdrop of supernatural rulers and a heavenly conflict. This language was designed to connect the heavenly realm with the earthly historical events of the vision. In other words, the earthly persecution associated with Antiochus has a corresponding cosmic dimension. Antiochus is a human Greek ruler but the biblical version portrays the profaning of the Jewish temple and subsequent end to daily sacrifice as part of a larger heavenly rebellion against God and his heavenly government.

So, Daniel 8 is much more than a history lesson. Beginning in vs. 10 Daniel described events beyond Greek and Jewish history. Antiochus certainly wasn’t climbing into heaven and knocking some of the stars from the sky. As we have stated, the “stars” and the “host of heaven” represented supernatural members of God’s heavenly host or council. Daniel described earthly events using supernatural imagery because the earthly conflict also reflected a heavenly conflict (that referenced a future earthly conflict).

But, that’s not the whole moral of this story. In vs. 11 the rebellious power of the great little horn became “as great as the Prince of the host.” While the Prince of the host is often referred to as an angel, it makes more sense that the Prince of the host was God Himself. In vs. 25 Daniel called Him the Prince of Princes. And, God Almighty is the One who will prevail over human and supernatural rebellion!

So, the attack against the Jewish temple is described as a simultaneous attack against God, the Prince of Princes. Although Antiochus perpetrated atrocities against the Jewish temple, its sacrificial system, and the Jewish people, from a heavenly perspective he attacked God’s sacred space, His people, and His heavenly Kingdom. Antiochus is also a manifestation of a future Antichrist ideology that “will throw truth to the ground” (vs. 12.)

While God permits rebellion and desecration to continue for a time, ultimately God’s Kingdom is sovereign over all the kingdoms of the earth (and heaven). While earthly rulers “shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great” and “without warning he shall destroy many” and “shall even rise up against the Prince of princes” (vs. 25), the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, will restore all that has been upended by earthly and heavenly rebellion “to its rightful state” (vs. 14).

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. (Hebrews 9:24, ESV)

Beastly Ambitions – Daniel 7

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I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man,and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14, ESV).

One of the literary themes in Daniel is portrayed by the lions in Chapter 6. The lions symbolized more than the Persian method used to execute Daniel. Beast imagery is used multiple times in the book of Daniel.

Daniel 6 linked the events of Daniel in the lion’s den to the prophetic vision of Daniel in Chapter 7 and his visions throughout the remainder of the book. In Chapter 6 Daniel is surrounded by deadly beasts. In Chapter 7 God’s faithful people are surrounded by beastly kingdoms.

Throughout the book of Daniel there is a progression of beastly ambitions by kings and kingdoms that are ultimately thwarted by God’s rule. In Daniel 4 King Nebuchadnezzar became like a beast until he acknowledged that God was the supreme ruler over earthly kingdoms. In Chapter 6 Daniel is thrown among beasts and is saved by a heavenly visitation, which King Darius acknowledged by decreeing that Daniel’s God is the Almighty God who exercises dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth. Then, in Daniel 7 beasts portrayed a series of earthly empires that emerged and declined under the sovereign rule of God.

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Cosmic Trajectory – Daniel 6

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Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions” (Daniel 6:25-27, ESV)

If you spent any time in Sunday School as a child, you are probably very familiar with the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. If you didn’t learn about it as a child in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School, then it’s likely you’ve often heard references to the story and it’s familiar theme, God’s deliverance of his faithful people, in your pastor’s sermons.

While faithfulness and deliverance is certainly the storyline of the tale, there’s so many underlying theological implications and so much literary symbolism to the story that we can’t recount all of it in this post. So, we will touch on just one of the symbolic plot lines in the story that I hope will encourage you to dig more deeply into the Old Testament biblical narratives in your own Bible reading and study.

Although the account of Daniel in the lion’s den parallels the account of the fiery furnace in Daniel 3 (e.g., both stories expose imperial power’s inability to control personal allegiance and faithfulness to God), have you ever considered the story of Daniel in the lion’s den as symbolic of the burial and resurrection of Jesus?

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Inevitable – Daniel 5

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“And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven” (Daniel 5:22-23, ESV).

You have certainly heard and probably used the expression, “the writing is on the wall” or “the handwriting is on the wall.” The phrase is often used whenever an inevitable result or imminent danger has become apparent. In Daniel 5, what should have been apparent and inevitable to King Belshazzar of Babylon seemed to allude him.

Belshazzar’s feast in Daniel 5 took place years, possibly decades, after the events of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 and under the kingship of a different king of Babylon. King Belshazzar was once thought to be a fictional king because ancient records named Nabonidus as Babylon’s last king. Later cuneiform discoveries showed that Belshazzar was Nabonidus’s son and served as co-regent while Nabonidus was away from Babylon.

Belshazzar also could have been Nebuchadnezzar II’s grandson through his mother though this is not certain. Daniel’s ascribing him as Nebuchadnezzar’s “son” in vs. 22 is consistent with ancient usage where the term often means descendant or royal successor.

In this chapter King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of all those gathered for the feast. Belshazzar commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his lords, his wives, and his concubines could drink from them (vs. 1-3). Basically, they were indulging in a drunken revelry and debasing sacred Jewish temple vessels by using them as wine goblets.

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Pompous People – Daniel 4

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“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37, ESV).

Have you ever been watching a movie and the chronological order of the story reverts to a previous or later time like “3 days ago” or “5 years later”?

If the story in Daniel 4 was a movie, Chapter 4 would begin with “8 years later” in the subtitle because the narrative of the chapter begins at the end of the story. The proclamation of God’s sovereignty Nebuchadnezzar makes in vs. 3, “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation,” is the result of the events that take place in the remainder of the chapter 8 years earlier!

Nebuchadnezzar has yet another dream that he wants to know the meaning of and he calls on the the wise men of Babylon for its interpretation. This time, in contrast to his dream in Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar tells the wise men about the dream. And again, among the king’s advisors only Daniel is able to interpret the dream.

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Fatal Faith – Daniel 3

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 “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18, ESV).

Daniel 2 tells the story of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon having a troubling dream that none of his wise men could explain. He demanded they not only interpret his dream but also describe the dream itself–otherwise they would be executed! Daniel, a Hebrew exile to Babylon, prayed to God who revealed to Daniel both the dream and its meaning. Daniel then explained the dream and its interpretation to King Nebuchadnezzar and prevented the execution of the Babylonian wise men including himself and his three fellow exiles.

At the end of Chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed: “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery” (vs. 47). Nevertheless, by the beginning of Daniel 3, some eight years later, Nebuchadnezzar’s acclaim for the sovereignty of Israel’s God seemed to have dissipated. In Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar made a 90-foot high golden image, presumably of himself, for all the Babylonians to worship!

Though not explicitly stated, there seems to be a literary connection between the stories in Daniel 2 and 3. In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a statue with a head of gold, which represented Nebuchadnezzar’s empire: “You are the head of gold” (Daniel 2:38, ESV). The body of the statue was made of several substances representing the rise and fall of multiple historical empires after the Babylonian empire. But, in Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar made an entire image of gold.

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Absolute Power – Daniel 2

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“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have
    understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him
(Daniel 2:20-22, ESV).

In Daniel 1 the king of Babylon invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. Many people from the nobility and royal family of Judah were exiled to Babylon. Daniel and three of his friends were among the exiles. As youths they were to be educated in the Chaldean language and culture. The faithfulness of Daniel and his friends is tested and with God’s favor upon them they are proven to have greater understanding and knowledge than all the Chaldean wise men in Nebuchadnezzar’s court.

In Daniel 2 King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted the wise men of his court to interpret it. The thing is, he didn’t want them just to interpret the dream; he wanted them to reveal what the dream was and then interpret it.

King Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t exactly an enlightened ruler and when his wise men couldn’t tell him the dream, he was furious and decreed for them all to be executed. Apparently, Daniel and his friends were at the top of the kill list. When the captain of the king’s guard came to take them to be executed, Daniel requested a meeting with the king to tell him he could interpret the dream.

Daniel told his friends about King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree and they all prayed and asked for God’s help in knowing and interpreting the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. And, God revealed the dream and its interpretation in a night vision to Daniel! In response to revealing Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him, Daniel proclaimed the song of praise celebrating God’s power, wisdom, and control over history in vs. 20-22.

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For the Sake of Others – Daniel 1

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“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, ‘I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age. So you would endanger my head with the king.’ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ‘Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink……’ At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the kings food” (Daniel 1:8-15, ESV).

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem in 605 BC and among the Jewish nobility and royal family deported to Babylon were Daniel and his three friends. They were to be trained in the Babylonian language and literature and assimilated into Babylonian culture. (vs. 1-4).

To protect themselves from being entangled in the temptations of the idolatrous Babylonian culture, Daniel and his friends used their distinctive kosher diet as a way of avoiding complete assimilation and retaining their distinctive identity as Jewish exiles in Babylon. This restrictive diet continually reminded them that they were the chosen people of God in a foreign land.

So, Daniel asked the chief of the eunuchs, who was in charge of training the youths, if they could only eat vegetables and drink water. The chief of the eunuchs was hesitant at first, believing that such a diet would diminish their health, but agreed to try it for ten days.

At the end of the ten days they were noticeably in better health than all the other youths who ate the king’s food!

Not only were they healthier, but God blessed them with learning and skill in all literature and wisdom and Daniel had understanding of dreams and visions (vs. 17).

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Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse – Ephesians 2:1-8

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“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:1-8, ESV).

A zombie apocalypse is coming according to many current movies and televisions shows fixated on zombies. In the movies the zombie apocalypse is a fictional world where societal collapse occurs due to an overwhelming outbreak of undead, infectious human beings.

But maybe the zombie apocalypse is already here!

In these verses from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians the zombie apocalypse may not be so fictional and it may have already arrived! Ephesians 2:1-2 indicate there is already an overwhelming outbreak of the walking dead causing societal collapse: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (vs. 1-2).

According to Paul, there is walking dead everywhere. He says it is the way of this world. So, we live in a fallen world that is overwhelmingly inhabited by people who are spiritually dead!

Because the zombie apocalypse seems to have started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden!

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Kiss the Son – Psalm 2

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Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
    and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:10-12, ESV)

In the Second Temple period (about 516 BC–70 AD) and early Jewish literature, this Psalm was usually read about Israel’s king (a historical Davidic ruler) or about a future Messiah from David’s line. It was possibly a royal Psalm used at the coronation of a king of Judah.

There’s no doubt that it had a messianic message: “The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (vs. 7-9).

Luke in Acts 13:33 and the Hebrew writer in Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 quoted from vs. 7 about the Divine Sonship of Jesus. John in his Revelation refers to the messianic conquering king in Revelation 2:27, 12:5 and 19:15 using the imagery of vs. 8-9.

While Psalm 2 presents a warning or notification to the kings and rulers of the ancient world, let’s look at it from another point of view. There is a sense in which this Psalm applies to all people–to you and me.

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